32
year old Dede Kosawa, also known as ‘Tree Man’, is one of the world’s
most extraordinary people. He lives in a remote village in Indonesia
with his two children, trying to care for them. Dede, a former
fisherman, has an incredible skin condition: he has root like structures
growing out of his body – branches that can grow up to 5cm a year and
which protrude from his hands and feet, and welts covering his whole
body.
He
is known locally as ‘Tree Man’ and his condition has baffled local
doctors for 20 years. In an attempt to earn a living to support his
family, he is part of a circus troupe, displaying his ‘Tree Man’ limbs
along with others afflicted with skin deformities in ‘freak’ shows.
Dr
Anthony Gaspari, a world expert in skin conditions from the University
of Maryland travels to Indonesia to attempt to diagnose ‘Tree Man’
Dede’s mysterious condition. He takes skin samples for biopsies back in
the USA. What will he discover?
